Verizon Offered To Install Marketers' Apps Directly On Subscribers' Phones (adage.com)

According to a report on AdAge, Verizon Wireless is trying to add more bloatware to Android phones by installing apps from other companies in exchange for payment. From the report: The wireless carrier has offered to install big brands' apps on its subscribers' home screens, potentially delivering millions of downloads, according to agency executives who have considered making such deals for their clients. But that reach would come at a cost: Verizon was seeking between $1 and $2 for each device affected, executives said. Verizon started courting advertisers with app installations late last year, pitching retail and finance brands among others, agency executives said. It has only offered the installations on Android phones, because Google's software is open for carriers to customize. Apple controls its platform more tightly. The proposed deals with brands ensure that their apps download to only new devices when consumers activate the phones and their software for the first time.

Comments

symptoms, symptoms

[supernova87a]

This kind of behavior is just a symptom of the deeper problem that no one (or very few people) at these traditional telecom companies are fundamentally interested in advocating for the customer's comprehensive experience and satisfaction.

They view every interaction as a way to milk out profit in the short term, regardless of how much of the burden and dissatisfaction it shifts onto the consumer.

Any wonder, then, that whenever the customer has a chance to dump them and shift to a provider/medium/hardware solution that works better and is considerate of the customer's desires, they do?

Re:If I can delete them. I don't care

[EndlessNameless]

They want to (not so) slowly move people to OS-as-a-service.

It's not even that.

Microsoft has discontinued OS sales and then support for years. Much longer than the OS-as-a-service concept has been on their radar.

With proprietary for-profit software, you will inevitably reach the point where new sales of the software will not cover the cost to maintain the software. And if you're a business, that means it's time to consider killing the product.

While users and developers both require a stable platform to do their work, the very stability of that platform eliminates the need for new purchases. Just reassign that perpetual license when the hardware dies and carry on. Meanwhile, the developer must support new hardware and new standards, and he must also fix any bugs or exploits.

Going OS-as-a-service and subsidizing the annual license fee to $0 through the use of analytic and advertising revenue... well, that's one solution. I don't like it, but if people are unwilling to pay for support one way then they will pay another. Microsoft has to make money, and users are generally not interested in paying cash for operating systems.